Assigned seating system for an automated taxi

ABSTRACT

A system for an automated-taxi includes a display and a controller. The display is viewable by one or more of a plurality of clients of an automated-taxi. The controller-circuit is in communication with the display. The controller is configured to determine a seating-arrangement of the plurality of clients transported by the automated-taxi. The seating-arrangement is determined in accordance with destinations of the plurality of clients. The controller is also configured to operate the display to show the seating-arrangement to one or more of the plurality of clients. A method of operating an automated-taxi includes receiving destinations of a plurality of clients to transported by an automated-taxi; determining a seating-arrangement of the plurality of clients in accordance with the destinations; and operating a display viewable by one or more of a plurality of clients of an automated-taxi to show the seating-arrangement to one or more of the plurality of clients.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation application and claims the benefit under 35U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/033,467, filed Jul.12, 2018, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION

This disclosure generally relates to a system for an automated-taxi, andmore particularly relates to a system that determines aseating-arrangement of the plurality of clients in accordance withdestinations of the plurality of clients, and operates the display toshow the seating-arrangement to one or more of the plurality of clients.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described, by way of example withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system for operating an automated-taxi inaccordance with one embodiment; and

FIG. 2 is a method of operating the system of FIG. 1 in accordance withone embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the various described embodiments. However,it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the variousdescribed embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components,circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not tounnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

‘One or more’ includes a function being performed by one element, afunction being performed by more than one element, e.g., in adistributed fashion, several functions being performed by one element,several functions being performed by several elements, or anycombination of the above.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.are, in some instances, used herein to describe various elements, theseelements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only usedto distinguish one element from another. For example, a first contactcould be termed a second contact, and, similarly, a second contact couldbe termed a first contact, without departing from the scope of thevarious described embodiments. The first contact and the second contactare both contacts, but they are not the same contact.

The terminology used in the description of the various describedembodiments herein is for describing embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting. As used in the description of the variousdescribed embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”,“an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unlessthe context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood thatthe term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses all possiblecombinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will befurther understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” is, optionally, construed to mean “when”or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,”depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or“if [a stated condition or event] is detected” is, optionally, construedto mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upondetecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting[the stated condition or event],” depending on the context.

FIG. 1 illustrates a non-limiting example of a system 10 for anautomated-taxi 12. As will be described in more detail below, an aspectof the system 10 is to determine and indicate to a plurality of clients14 an optimum or preferred instance of a seating-arrangement 16 of theclients 14 that are to be transported in or by the automated-taxi 12,which is sometimes referred to as an automated-mobility-on-demand (AMOD)type of vehicle. The automated-taxi 12 may be characterized as anautomated vehicle. As used herein, the term automated vehicle may applyto instances when the automated-taxi 12 is being operated in anautomated-mode, i.e. a fully autonomous mode, where there may not be ahuman-operator of the automated-taxi 12, and the clients 14 do littlemore than designate one or more destinations 18 to be transported to bythe automated-taxi 12. However, full automation is not a requirement. Itis contemplated that the teachings presented herein are useful when theautomated-taxi 12 is operated in a manual-mode where there is ahuman-operator driving the automated-taxi 12, and the degree or level ofautomation may be as little as only determining and indicating theseating-arrangement 16 to the clients 14.

The system 10 includes a display 20 that is viewable by one or more ofthe plurality of clients 14 of the automated-taxi 12 so theseating-arrangement 16 can be conveyed or displayed to the clients 14.By way of example and not limitation, the display 20 may include orconsist of a smart-phone carried by one or more or each of the clients14, and/or one or more general-purpose displays that may be mountedinside and/or outside the automated-taxi 12 where the display 20 isviewable by the clients 14. If the clients 14 are all being picked up atthe same location, e.g. at a transportation-kiosk, an instance of thedisplay 20 may be located at the pick-up site so the clients 14 can bepre-organized (i.e. lined up) to facilitate an orderly loading of theautomated-taxi 12. Another option contemplated is to place individualdisplays proximate to each seat, cargo area, handicapped area, and/orallocable (i.e. reconfigurable) area in the automated-taxi 12 toindicate who of the clients 14 is assigned to each of the seats orvarious areas in the automated-taxi 12. Information displayed on anyexamples of the display 20 may include, but is/are not limited to, oneor more of a picture 22, a name 24, and/or an identification-number 26associated with each of the plurality of clients 14 to indicate orconvey the seating-arrangement 16 to the clients 14.

The system 10 includes a controller-circuit 30 in communication with thedisplay 20 via an output 28. The controller-circuit 30, hereaftersometimes referred to as the controller 30, may include one or moreinstances of a processor 32 such as one or more instances of amicroprocessor or other control circuitry such as analog and/or digitalcontrol circuitry including an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC) for processing data as should be evident to those in the art.While the system 10 described herein is generally described in terms ofhaving a single instance of the controller 30, it is recognized that thefunctions of the controller 30 may be shared or distributed amongseveral instances of controllers that are each configured for somespecific task. Hereafter, any reference to the controller 30 beingconfigured for something is to also be interpreted as suggesting thatthe processor 32 may also be configured for the same thing. It is alsorecognized that there may be multiple instances of processors in anyinstance of the controller 30. The controller 30 may include memory 34,i.e. non-transitory computer-readable storage-medium, includingnon-volatile memory, such as electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM) for storing one or more routines, thresholds,and captured data. The memory 34 may be part of the processor 32, orpart of the controller 30, or separate from the controller 30 such asremote memory stored in the cloud. The one or more routines may beexecuted by the controller 30 or the processor 32 to perform steps fordetermining and displaying the seating-arrangement 16 based on thedestinations 18 received by the controller 30 as described elsewhereherein.

The controller 30 (or the processor 32) is configured to determine theseating-arrangement 16 of the plurality of clients 14 transported by theautomated-taxi 12. In one embodiment of the system 10, theseating-arrangement 16 is determined in accordance with the destinations18 of the plurality of clients 14. By way of example and not limitation,the seating-arrangement 16 may be a first-in/last-out type ofarrangement if there is only one door by which the clients 14 enter andexit the automated-taxi 12. That is, the client 14 assigned a seatfurthest from the door may be traveling to the last destination of aplanned route, and the client seated next to the door may be travelingto the first-destination. By way of another example, if theautomated-taxi 12 has entry/exit doors on both sides, then theseating-arrangement 16 may also take into consideration the destinations18 where unloading from either side (rather than only curb-side) of theautomated-taxi 12 can be safely accomplished.

The controller 30 (or the processor 32) may also be configured tooperate the display 20 to show the seating-arrangement 16 to one or moreof the plurality of clients 14 and operate the automated-taxi 12 totransport the plurality of clients 14 to the destinations 18. If one ormore of the clients 14 do not sit in their assigned seats, the system10, i.e. the controller 30 or the processor 32, may prevent theautomated-taxi 12 from moving until all the clients 14 are seated intheir assigned seats. Alternatively, the system 10 may inform theclients 14 that they are not in their assigned seats, and requestpermission to proceed regardless. At the destinations 18 for the clients14, the system 10 may determine if the clients 14 with aseating-arrangement 16 has exited. The system 10 may interact with theclients 14 to determine if their destination has changed and ensure thatthe clients 14 are aware that the destination has been reached.

The system 10 may include an input-device 36 that may be connected tocontroller 30 via a receiver 38, i.e. a wireless receiver. While FIG. 1may be interpreted to suggest that the input-device 36 is part of theautomated-taxi 12, it is contemplated that the input-device 36 may alsobe located remote from the automated-taxi 12. That is, there may bemultiple instances of the input-device 36 located in, on, and/or remotefrom the automated-taxi 12. By way of example and not limitation, theinput-device 36 may include or consist of a smart-phone carried by oneof the clients 14, which could be the same smart-phone used as thedisplay 20. Alternatively, or in addition, the input-device 36 may be akeyboard or touch-screen (could also be an instance of the display 20)mounted inside and/or outside the automated-taxi 12, and/or at a pick-upkiosk. The input-device 36 may be used by the clients 14 to indicate thedestinations 18 of the clients 14. Accordingly, the input-device 36 isconfigured so one or more of the clients 14 can enter or indicate thedestinations of one or more of the clients 14. That is, each client mayindividually enter their own destination and other relevantidentification information. The input-device 36 may optionally serve asa means of payment for the transportation to be provided by theautomated-taxi 12.

The input-device 36 may also be configured so a client 14 can indicateone or more of: baggage 40 associated with the client, a headcount 42 ofa group associated with the client, and a handicap 44 of a client. Aswill be described in more detail below, this information may also beused to determine the seating-arrangement 16 which may include, but isnot limited to, assigning a seat to all or part of the baggage 40carried by one or more of the clients if the automated-taxi 12 does nothave a trunk or separate area for the baggage 40, and/or the trunk isnot large enough to accommodate all the baggage 40 of all the clients14. The headcount 42 is used to determine how many seats of theautomated-taxi 12 are needed to transport all the group associated witha client. The handicap 44 may be used to determine if one or more seatsdesignated as handicap-accessible should be reserved for that client.For example, if the client is in a wheel-chair, it may be necessary toreserve two adjacent seats that are reconfigurable (e.g. fold up) so theautomated-taxi 12 can accommodate the wheel-chair. By way of furthernon-limiting examples, the handicap 44 may indicate: a need for a windowseat due to motion-sickness susceptibility, a need for extra space forservice-animal, and/or a mobility limitation due to age.

To this end, the controller-circuit 30 (or the processor 32) may beconfigured to determine a baggage-arrangement 46 of baggage of one ormore of the plurality of clients 14 transported by the automated-taxi 12in addition to the seating-arrangement. The baggage-arrangement 46 maybe determined in accordance with destinations 18 of the plurality ofclients 14. For example, if the trunk is configured so that not all thebaggage is directly accessible, i.e. some of the baggage 40 is buriedbehind other baggage, the baggage-arrangement 46 may indicate aplacement of the baggage 40 associated with a first destination to bedirectly accessible, and the baggage 40 associated with a lastdestination be initially all or partially buried. It follows that thecontroller-circuit 30 may operate the display 20 to show thebaggage-arrangement 46 to one or more of the plurality of clients 14 sothe baggage 40 can be loaded into the automated-taxi 12 in an organizedmanner.

As an alternative to the clients 14 having to manually enter or indicateall the various information suggested above using the input-device 36,the system 10 may include a detector 50 such as, but not limited to, acamera 52 and/or other devices such as radar, lidar, a weight-scale,etc., that can be used to determine, for example, a volume/count ofluggage/bags carried by the clients 14, the headcount 42 of the groupassociated with an instance of the clients 14, and/or a handicap 44 ofthe client. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the system 10 includes adetector 50 such as the camera 52 which may be mounted/located insideand/or outside the automated-taxi 12, and/or at a pick-up kiosk. Thecamera 52 may be used to render an image 54 of one or more of theclients 14. The controller-circuit 30 may be in communication with thedetector 50 (e.g. the camera 52) via an input 56, and thecontroller-circuit 30 may be configured to determine thecharacterization 58 of one or more of the client 14 in accordance withthe image 54. The controller 30 may determine the characterization basedon the image 54 using known image matching techniques.

By way of example and not limitation, the characterization 58 mayinclude one or more of: information about the baggage 40(baggage-volume, a baggage-weight, a bag-count, and/or a baggage-type,e.g. luggage or groceries) associated with one or more of the clients14; a headcount 42 of a group associated with the client; and/or ahandicap 44 of the client. The handicap 44 may be indicated by the image54 showing the presence of a wheelchair/walker, a white-cane oftenassociated with blindness, the presence of a service-animal, or othermobility limitations. The detector may also include an alcohol-detectorused to detect intoxication of a client.

FIG. 2 illustrates a non-limiting example of a method 100 of operatingan automated-taxi 12.

Step 105, RECEIVE DESTINATIONS, may include receiving the destinations18 of the plurality of clients 14 to transported by an automated-taxi 12by way of the input-device 36. The destinations 18 may be communicatedusing the web/internet if smart-phones are being used, or by wired orwireless communication if the input device is in/on the automated-taxi12 and/or at a transportation kiosk.

Step 110, RENDER IMAGE, may include rendering (i.e. taking or capturing)an image of a client with the camera 52. The camera 52 may be mounted onthe automated-taxi 12 and/or located remote from the automated-taxi 12such as at a transportation kiosk. Alternatively, the camera 52 may bepart of a smart-phone operated by the client 14, and the image 54 mayhave been rendered as part of a prior reservation and stored in thesmart-phone or in the memory 34 of the system 10 for repeated use.

Step 115, DETERMINE CHARACTERIZATION, may include receiving from aclient 14 (via the input-device 36) one or more of: a listing oraccounting of the baggage 40 associated with the client, a headcount 42of a group associated with the client, and/or a handicap 44 of theclient. It is also contemplated that some of this information may beretrieved from a customer-profile stored by the system 10 for repeatcustomers/clients. From this information, the characterization 58 can bedetermine which may include indicating a preferred seat and/or adetermination of how much space in the automated-taxi 12 will beoccupied by the client 14 and any associated other objects such asbaggage and/or a service animal. If an image 54 is available, thendetermining the characterization 58 of the client 14 in accordance withthe image 54 may include performing an image-analysis of the image usingany of a number of known techniques. As above, the characterization 58may include one or more of baggage 40 associated with the client 14, aheadcount 42 of a group associated with the client, and/or a handicap 44of a client 14.

Step 120, DETERMINE SEATING-ARRANGEMENT, may include determining theseating-arrangement 16 of the plurality of clients in accordance withthe destinations 18 and/or the image 54. If all the clients 14 and allassociated baggage will fit in the automated-taxi 12, then a route toall the destinations 18 can be planned for the automated-taxi 12 tofollow. From the route, the order in which the destinations 18 will bereached is known, so an appropriate instance of the seating-arrangement16 can be determined. It is contemplated that the route may not alwaysbe the most efficient route as preference may be given to frequentclients, or given to those clients who are willing to pay a premium forfaster travel. While some might interpret the description so far asbeing limited to situations where all the clients 14 board theautomated-taxi at the same location, this is not the case. It iscontemplated that the route may include picking up other clients afterthe route is started, before or after some or all the initial clientshave reached their respective destinations.

Step 125, DETERMINE BAGGAGE-ARRANGEMENT, may include determining abaggage-arrangement of the baggage 40 of one or more of the plurality ofclients 14 to be transported by the automated-taxi 12 based on the routethat was determine based on the destinations and other factors mentionedabove. It is contemplated that situations may arise where it is notpossible or appropriate or necessary to require that all the baggage 40be placed in a trunk of the automated-taxi 12. That is, situations arecontemplated where some or all baggage of a client 14 may be placed onone or more seats inside the automated-taxi 12 or on the floor of theautomated-taxi 12.

Step 130, OPERATE DISPLAY, may include operating a display 20 viewableby one or more of a plurality of clients 14 of an automated-taxi 12 toshow the seating-arrangement 16 and/or the baggage-arrangement to one ormore of the plurality of clients. Displaying the seating-arrangement 16may include operating the display to show one or more of a picture, aname, and an identification-number associated with each of the pluralityof clients 14 to indicate the seating-arrangement 16

Step 135, OPERATE AUTOMATED-TAXI, may include the controller 30 or theprocessor 32 operating the vehicle-controls (e.g. steering, accelerator,and/or brakes) of the automated-taxi 12 to transport the plurality ofclients 14 to the destinations if the automated-taxi is operated in anautonomous mode.

Describe herein is a first device 30 that includes one or moreprocessors 32; memory 34; and one or more programs 105-135 stored inmemory 34. The one or more programs 105-135 including instructions forperforming all or part of the method 100. Also, described herein is anon-transitory computer-readable storage-medium 34 that includes one ormore programs 105-135 for execution by one or more processors 32 of afirst device 30, the one or more programs 105-135 including instructionswhich, when executed by the one or more processors 32, cause the firstdevice to perform all or part of the method 100.

Accordingly, a system 10, a controller 30 for the system 10, and amethod 100 of operating the system 10 are provided. Aseating-arrangement 16 is determined so that as the automated-taxi 12travels to a series of the destinations 18, the clients 14 (i.e. thepassengers) of the automated-taxi 12 can unload efficiently, e.g.without some of the clients 14 having to temporarily unload from theautomated-taxi 12 so that those of the clients 14 who are at theirdestination can unload or disembark. That is, the clients 14 (andoptionally the baggage 40) are loaded so that when a destination isreached, the clients 14 who need to unload can do so easily.

While this invention has been described in terms of the preferredembodiments thereof, it is not intended to be so limited, but ratheronly to the extent set forth in the claims that follow.

We claim:
 1. A system comprising: a controller-circuit in communicationwith a display and a camera; the display viewable by one or more of aplurality of clients of an automated-taxi; the camera configured tocapture an image of a client; the controller-circuit configured to:determine a characterization of the client based on the image, whereinthe characterization includes a special need of the client; determine aseating-arrangement of the plurality of clients and the clienttransported by the automated-taxi; the seating-arrangement determined inaccordance with destinations of the plurality of clients and the specialneed; and operate the display to show the seating-arrangement to one ormore of the plurality of clients.
 2. The system in accordance with claim1, wherein the special need is at least one of an age, a mobilitylimitation, a service-animal, and a sickness.
 3. The system inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the controller-circuit is configured todetermine a baggage-arrangement that indicates where to place baggage ofone or more of the plurality of clients transported by theautomated-taxi, the baggage-arrangement determined based ondestinationsof the plurality of clients, and operate the display to show thebaggage-arrangement to one or more of the plurality of clients.
 4. Thesystem in accordance with claim 1, wherein the characterization includesat least one of baggage associated with the client, and a headcount of agroup associated with the client.
 5. The system in accordance with claim1, wherein the system includes an input-device used by a client toindicate a destination of the client.
 6. The system in accordance withclaim 5, wherein the input-device is configured so the client canindicate at least one of baggage associated with the client, a headcountof a group associated with the client, and a special need of the client.7. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the controller-circuitis configured to operate the display to show at least one of a picture,a name, and an identification-number associated with each of theplurality of clients to indicate the seating-arrangement.
 8. Acontroller-circuit comprising: a processor in communication with aninput, an output, and a display; the input configured to communicatewith a camera configured to capture an image of a client of anautomated-taxi; the output configured to communicate with the displayviewable by one or more of a plurality of clients of the automated-taxi;the processor configured to: determine a characterization of the clientbased on the image, wherein the characterization includes a special needof the client, determine a seating-arrangement of the plurality ofclients and the client transported by the automated-taxi; theseating-arrangement determined based on destinations of the plurality ofclients and the special need; and operate the display to show theseating-arrangement to one or more of the plurality of clients.
 9. Thecontroller-circuit in accordance with claim 8, wherein the special needis at least one of an age, a mobility limitation, a service-animal, anda sickness.
 10. The controller-circuit in accordance with claim 8,wherein the processor is configured to determine a baggage-arrangementthat indicates where to place baggage of one or more of the plurality ofclients transported by the automated-taxi, the baggage-arrangementdetermined based on destinations of the plurality of clients, andoperate the display to show the baggage-arrangement to one or more ofthe plurality of clients.
 11. The controller-circuit in accordance withclaim 8, wherein the characterization includes at least one of baggageassociated with the client, and a headcount of a group associated withthe client.
 12. The controller-circuit in accordance with claim 8,wherein the controller-circuit includes a receiver configured tocommunicate with an input-device used by the client to indicate adestination of the client.
 13. The controller-circuit in accordance withclaim 12, wherein the processor is configured so the client can indicatevia the input-device at least one of baggage of the client, a headcountof a group associated with the client, and the special need of theclient.
 14. The controller-circuit in accordance with claim 8, whereinprocessor is configured to operate the display to show at least one of apicture, a name, and an identification-number associated with each ofthe plurality of clients to indicate the seating-arrangement.
 15. Amethod of operating an automated-taxi, comprising: receivingdestinations of a plurality of clients to transported by anautomated-taxi; capturing an image of a client with a camera;determining a characterization of the client in based on the image; thecharacterization including a special need of the client; determining aseating-arrangement of the plurality of clients based on thedestinations and the special need; and operating a display viewable byone or more of a plurality of clients of the automated-taxi to show theseating-arrangement to one or more of the plurality of clients.
 16. Themethod in accordance with claim 15, wherein the special need is at leastone of an age, a mobility limitation, a service-animal, and a sickness.17. The method in accordance with claim 15, wherein the method includesdetermining a baggage-arrangement that indicates where to place baggageof one or more of the plurality of clients transported by theautomated-taxi; and operating the display to show thebaggage-arrangement to one or more of the plurality of clients.
 18. Themethod in accordance with claim 15, wherein the characterizationincludes at least one of baggage associated with the client, and aheadcount of a group associated with the client.
 19. The method inaccordance with claim 15, wherein the method includes receiving from aclient at least one of baggage associated with the client, a headcountof a group associated with the client, and the special need of theclient; and determining the seating-arrangement of the plurality ofclients based on the at least one of baggage associated with the client,the headcount of a group associated with the client, and the specialneed of the client.
 20. The method in accordance with claim 15, whereinthe method includes operating the display to show at least one of apicture, a name, and an identification-number associated with each ofthe plurality of clients to indicate the seating-arrangement.